THUNDER BAY -- TBNewswatch is taking a look back at the top stories, month-by-month, of 2022. Here are 10 of the stories that made headlines in March:
City officials recommended pausing a proposed indoor turf facility project after announcing it was no closer to an answer on $22 million in federal funding needed to help build the controversial $44.8-million Chapples Park project.
The chair of the Thunder Bay Police Services Board expressed optimism after the Office of the Independent Review Director announced reviews into nine additional sudden deaths of Indigenous people in the city. Sixteen more have been earmarked for further review.;
The price of gasoline hit $2 per litre in the Thunder Bay area for the first time, sparking concern for motorists. The hike, in part blamed on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would see the price of regular unleaded reach as high as $2.29 before dropping as low at $1.12 in the fall.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford paid a visit to Alstom’s Thunder Bay plant in a pre-election visit to the rail-car manufacturing plant.
Denis Terry Bernard pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2020 stabbing death of Paul Vivier at a Cumberland Street hotel. At the same time, a Toronto youth who had also pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the killing was sentenced to time served.
The provincial Special Investigations Unit invoked its mandate after OPP officers shot at a 34-year-old suspect after an incident near Nipigon and an earlier shooting on Forest Street resulted in a seriously injured male being sent to hospital. Attempted murder charges were later laid against the shooting suspect.
Elective surgeries at Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre continued to face delays because of the ongoing pandemic. Up to 5,550 surgeries were still on the wait list in early March.
The city sought federal recognition as an ideal location for displaced Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion of their country, while Mayor Bill Mauro looked into housing availability.
A homophobic letter led to an early-morning vigil outside Bay Village Coffee. The letter was thrown through a window at the coffee shop, owned by Alan Forbes and future mayoral candidate Gary Mack.
A late March snowstorm brought up to 50 centimetres of snow and began a spring trend of Wednesday weather that kept spring’s arrival at bay through April.
